'David Cameron says he will take personal responsibility for the NHS this winter.' Photograph: Justin Kase/Alamy

Dear Santa,

I understand that you are very busy at this time of the year at the North Pole. It must be very cold there. It is cold here too because costs for heating have gone up again and wearing several jumpers doesn't seem to help.

I am a British born and trained NHS medical doctor working on the frontline in a district general hospital's accident and emergency department. I'm writing to you on behalf of all fellow NHS healthcare professionals, who have gone above and beyond for yet another year, caring equally, for the worried well and every other really sick patient. This year, instead of generous bankers' bonuses, we have received pay cuts and pension revisions. We face a catastrophic Christmas, where patient care could really suffer. We deserve better. So does the public. But we just can't go on like this. It's not safe.

Every day is spent fighting a losing battle against infections and cancer. We are continually being stretched, overwhelmed, abused and threatened with litigation. I am not sure how you manage to overcome the challenges every winter to be able to provide Christmas gifts to an ever increasing UK population. In the NHS we are extremely short-staffed. If you can spare any of your elves, we would greatly appreciate their help over the Christmas period.

David Cameron has said he will take personal responsibility for the NHS this winter, but he never does what he says. I don't think any politicians deserve Christmas presents this year. In fact, I haven't heard one of them say thank you to the NHS staff for our hard work, or offer to spend their Christmas Day working alongside us in hospital, as we do nearly bank holiday, away from our loved ones.

Since the prime minister has not been able to solve our problems and since NHS staff have tried so, so hard and been on our best behaviour all year, this is what is on our Christmas list: 10,000 elves trained in healthcare in the UK or abroad to fill empty jobs; about a gazillion doses of antibiotics; around £5bn as a bailout; stopping people from coming to A&E or calling an ambulance without a real emergency; ears for politicians so that they can listen to us; 20,000 more hospital beds (not trolleys); people to say thank you to our staff.

We don't just want these things, we actually really need them. I am not sure if you have time to sprinkle any magic dust over all the hospitals and GP surgeries in UK this Christmas, but it would certainly be appreciated. If anybody can fix it and make it all better, you can.

Looking forward to the new year, our resolution is not to give up on the public. I hope theirs is not to give up on us.

Thanks a million.

PS: We can't afford mince pies in the NHS, but I will leave some sugar-free diabetic sweets and long life milk out beside bed 13. I'm sorry, as always, its the best we can do with what little we have.